Kittery may appeal 'flawed' FEMA floodplain maps

KITTERY, Maine — Town officials are pondering whether to appeal what a consultant called highly flawed federal floodplain maps of the town. To gauge resident response to the issue, the Town Council will hold a special meeting Monday, April 7.

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By Deborah McDermott

seacoastonline.com

By Deborah McDermott

Posted Apr. 1, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Deborah McDermott
Posted Apr. 1, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

KITTERY, Maine — Town officials are pondering whether to appeal what a consultant called highly flawed federal floodplain maps of the town. To gauge resident response to the issue, the Town Council will hold a special meeting Monday, April 7.

Any day now, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to begin accepting appeals of its preliminary maps. Individual property owners and municipalities will have 90 days after that to file.

A consultant hired by the town earlier this year to provide an initial assessment of the preliminary FEMA maps found the federal agency erred.

Robert Gerber of Ransom Consulting in Portland, who has been hired by many Maine towns already, found "The data is flawed. The models are flawed. The starting point is flawed. It's a flawed report," said Assistant Town Planner Chris DiMatteo. "He's said it's one of the worst (preliminary maps) he's ever seen."

FEMA came out with its preliminary maps in Maine earlier this year. In 2009, it redrew the maps in York and Cumberland counties, but after several communities challenged them, implementation was pulled.

FEMA adopted the maps of those communities, but told the rest of York and Cumberland county towns that they had to abide by different mapping methodology promulgated more recently.

A number of towns, including Kittery, have raised issues about the uneven treatment by FEMA. In Kittery, said DiMatteo, Gerber zeroed in on the area from Gerrish to Seavey Island as being particularly flawed.

Adding to the situation, premium increases to property owners through the National Flood Insurance program are planned.

Gerber said he would be willing to represent the town in an appeal, and pegged the cost at about $20,000. Individual property owners are also able to appeal.

All affected property owners have been invited to Monday's meeting.

"I think the point of the workshop is to determine how many people see this as an urgent item and how many people are interested in seeing the town appeal," said Town Manager Nancy Colbert Puff.

Funding for an appeal would likely have to be found in the current fiscal year budget.